


His Bark

by Tismyname



Category: AMitS, Mafiafell - Fandom, Mafiafell Papyrus - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:06:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tismyname/pseuds/Tismyname
Summary: Inspired by A Murderer in the Subway written by aka-indulgence. This underlying story goes with AMitS; A girl is an unwitting witness to one of Papyrus’s “assignments”. But as she is detained for interrogation by his family, he finds an unexpected interest in this little witness~ Here’s a sneak peak:Papyrus came closer. She looked so small and helpless and-The tall monster shook himself, restraining himself from running his phalange down her cheek. He had always been drawn towards small, cute things...No, there was no need to get attached. Cute and sweet things never lasted very long in his world. Everything around him was sharp, angular, and edgy.Nothing as soft and gentle looking as her ever lasted very long in his life.
Relationships: Mafiafell Papyrus x Reader, Mafiafell sans x reader
Comments: 42
Kudos: 248





	1. An Unfortunate Circumstance

**Author's Note:**

> All the love and credit given to aka-indulgence whose AMitS story inspired me! I also post new chapter updates on my tumblr @turtleskele!

It was supposed to be an easy job. 

Papyrus crouched over the bloody corpse of what had been a living human being. He took great care to make sure none of it tarnished his newly pressed suit. 

The dead bastard before him was his latest target: a double agent, employed by the skeleton family only to find he had been selling their information to another mob.

Dim-witted fool.

He stood to leave, when his eyes caught sight of her. She was standing there stone still at the end of the alley, eyes transfixed on him with a look of terror on her face. 

Her bag was still in hand, hanging by her side as if she had been swinging it on her way home. When she had just happened to pass by...

How unfortunate.

He immediately grabbed her by the soul, ensuring that she wouldn’t escape. Even from where he was standing he could see her lip quivering. He felt a pang of guilt go through him seeing how scared she was, but he kept his face set in a glare as he walked slowly over to her. She was starting to hyperventilate and he could tell she was on the verge of screaming. He needed to calm her, or at least keep her silent until he could talk to her.

He now stood over her as she shook with fear. 

“Calm Yourself Human. If You Scream, I Will Have To Hurt You. Be Silent And I Promise No Harm Will Come To You.”He said, lowering his voice so as not to frighten her even more.

The girl swallowed but nodded, biting her lip.

He sighed.

“I Am Going To Release My Hold On You. Do Not Try To Run. I Need You To Come With Me. If You Resist I Will Have To Hurt You.” 

The girl’s eyes got wider and her lip went back to trembling at his words. He felt another pang of guilt hit him. 

Slowly he released her soul, praying she didn’t try to run. To his relief, she stayed put. Gently, he grabbed her arm and began walking towards home. She stumbled along behind him, still in shock as well as trying to keep up with his long strides. 

It was going be a long trip home.

.....

When they arrived at the skeleton household, Papyrus was relieved to find no one was home. Less things to scare the little human. 

She had jumped when he had shut and locked the front door behind them. As he lead her up the stairs he could feel her shaking in his grasp. Finally, they made it to his (shared) room. He motioned for her to sit on the bed.

“Stay Here. Do Not Try To Leave. I Will Be Back In A While After I Take Care Of A Few Things.”

The girl gave a small nod, not looking up at him. Her face was white and she looked ready to pass out. As he went to shut the door he caught a glimpse of her first tear run down her face. 

‘No no no no! Don’t cry!’

A part of him paused, wanting to say something to comfort her. Her eyes had already flooded with tears as she let out the breath she had no doubt been holding since he grabbed her. He was surprised she had been able to hold it together this long. 

The tall skeleton sighed and shut the door. He would find some way to calm her later, right now he had a phone call to make.

......

The girl’s breath came out raggedly as the tears came down her face. 

How could this be happening?!

One minute she was walking home from work, the next-

She choked on her tears. She remembered hearing the scream of a man. The number one rule on Red Road was ‘Keep Walking’.But the sheer anguish behind the scream had made her stop in her tracks. That’s when she had caught sight of HIM.

He was tall-taller than any human or monster she had ever seen. He stood over a bloody mass on the ground, what she guessed was the source of the scream. What scared her the most though, was the fact that he didn’t have a speck of blood anywhere on his well pressed suit. 

He had done this before. And he was good at it. That’s when he had looked up. She couldn’t stop staring. 

He was all bones! He had sharp jagged features and to top it all, he had a giant scar running across his left eye. Or rather, eye-socket. Two red pinpricks of light had stared at her intently. 

Everything in her had screamed for her to run, but she was frozen in place. One of his eyes had started glowing and she felt a weight in her chest. She couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted too. 

The rest had happened in a blur. Even as he had dragged her through the endless alleys, she had barely been able to comprehend what was happening.

And now she was sitting here locked in a room, awaiting her fate. 

She felt her arms shaking, ready to give out. The bed beneath her felt soft and oddly inviting. She decided to lay down. 

She just wanted to close her eyes. Maybe she would wake up and find that it was all a dream. Slowly her eyes drifted shut as she gave in to exhaustion.

.....

Papyrus put his phone back in his pocket.He had informed his brothers of the situation. He had stressed to them how cooperative she had been. Though his job required him to kill, in truth he hated to see innocent people hurt.

He knew his brothers would be more reasonable than  those three. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened to her if they had been home.

The tall skeleton decided it was time to check in on her. Hopefully she had calmed down enough to talk, otherwise he knew his brothers would get frustrated.

When he got to the door upstairs he listened for a few moments. He didn’t hear any crying or sniffling. Slowly he opened the door. 

To his surprise he found the girl asleep on the bed. She was curled up in the fetal position; tear stains still streaked across her face.

Papyrus came closer. She looked so small and helpless and-

The tall monster shook himself, restraining himself from running his phalange down her cheek. He had always been drawn towards small, cute things...

No, there was no need to get attached. Cute and sweet things never lasted very long in his world. Everything around him was sharp, angular, and edgy. 

Nothing as soft and gentle looking as her ever lasted very long in his life. 


	2. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Skeleton Family talks with the witness and Papyrus tries to offer some comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since my chapters are smaller I’m gonna try to post them two at a time. I will be posting each individual chapter on my tumblr.

The first to arrive home were Wing and Dings. They were anxious to speak to the girl, but decided to wait until she woke up at Papyrus’ insistence. Sans arrived shortly after looking like he was in a foul mood. Most likely Papyrus’s call had interrupted his time with his “girl”. The family had recently come to find out that he had been keeping her in his own apartment away from the house, which he lovingly referred to as his “basement”.

Since that time Sans had become even more moody, wanting to avoid any questioning his family might try about her.

Today was no different. 

“why exactly are we stressin’ about this again?she’s a witness! just kill the lil’ bitch and we can move on!”

“SANS!!”

The taller monster glowered down at his brother, crossing his arms over his chest. The shorter monster grumbled and sighed.

“sorry bro. jus’ came up at a bad time is all.” 

The two oldest skeleton brothers looked on in amusement at their shorter counterpart’s discomfort. They still had yet to question their brother more about the young lady in his “care”. But it would have to wait until the current incident was handled. 

“Children, we have a problem to deal with if you please.”

Wing pushed in between the two and headed towards the stairs.

“Papyrus, now would be a good time to wake her. If she is a witness we need time to decide whether or not she is to be trusted, and if not, who we need to quiet about her disappearance.”

The youngest skeleton nodded and quickly headed up the stairs in front of them.

.....

“HEY”

Her eyes opened slowly at the sound of his voice. The voice rumbled in her head waking her out of a dreamless sleep.

“GET UP”

The bed below her cheek smelled different from her own. 

“HUMAN, YOU NEED TO WAKE UP NOW.”

Human? What was he talking- 

Then she remembered. She jerked awake. 

He stood in front of her his arms crossed, glaring down at her. This close to her he was even taller than when she had first seen him. And his voice was louder.

“AH GOOD. NOW, I NEED YOU TO REMAIN CALM. MY BROTHERS WISH TO ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS.

...Brothers?

Through the door strode three more skeletons-none as tall as the first one, but still large in size. The shortest of the bunch was still a good head taller than her.

She could feel her heart beginning to speed up.What had she gotten into?

.....

The girl held up surprisingly well under their scrutiny. Granted she was still shaking and shesat on her hands, which were no doubt shaking as well. But Papyrus had to admit he was impressed.

She answered each question calmly and in a respectful but strong tone. She still wouldn’t look at them for longer than a few seconds-keeping her eyes lowered, but when she did she always made eye contact.

By the end of the questioning though, the youngest skeleton did notice that she was starting to look tired again. Her face had gone pale and she looked ready to pass out. 

Fortunately for her, his brothers had gathered all of the information they needed. They filed out to discuss what should be done.

Papyrus followed them, but not before addressing her.

“YOU DID WELL HUMAN. NOW GET SOME REST, WE WILL HAVE OUR DECISION SOON.”

He saw the girl visibly swallow. She nodded, laying down under his watchful gaze.

As a last gesture of comfort, Papyrus pulled a blanket from the top bunk and gently covered her with it.

“GOOD NIGHT HUMAN.”

The girl stayed silent, watching as he left and shut the door behind him.

......

When Papyrus finally joined them downstairs, they had already come to a conclusion.

“she didn’t see much except you standin’ over the body. she doesn’t seem like much of a talker either. course, that might just be the fear coursing through her.”

Sans grinned at the idea that they had terrified her.

“She does seem very quiet though. We have decided to keep her here for a few days so we can confirm the information about her livelihood is true. Your job Papyrus, will be to convince her that staying quiet is the best option if she wishes to stay alive and go free~”

Dings nodded towards the younger skeleton. 

“Also, to keep the other three from “interrogating” her themselves. You know what happened last time they interrogated someone.”

Wing wrung his hands at this thought.

Papyrus nodded, understanding his instructions. Subconsciously he was excited though. For a few days at least he would be able to spend time with the cute human. 

He only hoped she stayed cooperative.


	3. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is having a hard time calming down but with some reassurance from Papyrus she begins to feel better. But things have just gotten more interesting with the arrival of Papyrus’s cousins. What they think of this little situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! And thank you all for your support so far I enjoy reading your comments :3

The girl trembled under the blanket.

She was exhausted, but her mind wouldn’t let her sleep.

What would their decision be? Were they gonna let her live? Oh God, what if she had seen too much?! What if they-

The girl threw off the covers and sat up. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. Now there was no reason to jump to conclusions. Despite having kidnapped her and locked her in a room, they had been very civil to her. 

She let out a breath. But they were still killers. The image of the tall skeleton standing over the mass of flesh on the ground flashed across her mind. She felt a shiver go up her spine. She pulled her legs to her chest and hid her face in her knees.

How long were they going to make her wait? She felt like she could die right now just from the anxiety. She felt like crying again, but a lump of worry lodged in her throat kept the tears from coming. She was tired and scared and she wanted to go home.

She just wanted to go home. 

An overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and fear swept over her. This time, the tears fell freely.

.....

Papyrus worked quickly in the kitchen, not only to feed his brothers, but their new “guest” as well. 

The youngest skeleton found himself being more meticulous about cooking his pasta to perfection than usual.

True, all of his dishes were masterpieces but this was the first time anyone outside of his family would be trying it. 

Hopefully she too would appreciate the true craftsmanship of his cooking. 

Finally, it was finished. He prepared a plate, carefully plating and decorating each strand of pasta. Finally, he garnished the dish with greens. With a grunt of approval, he headed upstairs to surprise the human.

He could not wait to see her face when she took the first bite.

.....

When he unlocked the door, he was surprised to see the human curled in a ball against the wall; her face buried behind her knees.

Her head lifted suddenly, shocked by his sudden presence. He saw that she had been crying again. He sighed.

“CALM YOURSELF HUMAN, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU FOOD.”

Her hair hung in her face, covering one eye from view. It watched him warily as he extended the plate towards her. She was in no hurry to grab it, though he knew she was hungry. 

Papyrus was growing impatient. But he knew snapping at the human would only make her distrust him more.

He sighed again.

“I WILL LEAVE IT HERE,” he set it on the bedside table, “I WILL COME BACK FOR THE PLATE LATER, SO PLEASE RETURN IT TO THIS SPOT WHEN YOU ARE DONE. I CANNOT ABIDE DIRTY DISHES ON THE FLOOR!”

Slowly she nodded at him.

“IF YOU NEED TO USE THE RESTROOM, THERE IS ONE ADJOINING THIS BEDROOM OVER THERE,” he pointed at the door on the side wall, “IF YOU GET BORED, I WILL PERMIT YOU TO PERUSE MY LIBRARY- ONLY IF YOU PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN ITS PROPER PLACE!”

The girl brushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced at the books on the shelves with some interest, beginning to uncurl from her ball.

Satisfied, he had made at least some difference in her mood he turned to leave.

“W-wait!”

The tall monster stopped upon hearing her voice. It was hoarse and wavering. He found it oddly cute. He turned to address her.

“What’s your name?”

The question took him by surprise. 

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! BUT YOU MAY JUST REFER TO ME AS PAPYRUS FOR NOW.”

The girl blinked and for a moment the youngest monster thought he saw the hints of a small smile.

“Oh...well, thanks for the food...Papyrus.”

He felt a shiver go down his spine when she said his name. He didn’t know how to respond other then a nod before shutting the door behind him.

....

When he had finally descended the stairs, Papyrus noticed that his cousins had come home.

They were seated around the table eating his spaghetti hungrily.

“Eh Papy, this is the best batch of spaghetti yous ever made!” 

Trattatelo flashed him a grin. Chalkboard nodded in agreement stuffing his face full of food.

“Yeah, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were try’na impress someone.”

Herculanum flashed a playful look at him.

The younger skeleton crossed his arms. 

“IT IS THE SAME THING I COOK EVERY NIGHT COUSIN. WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING HOME SO EARLY?”

His three cousins had moved in with Papyrus and his brothers when they were very young. Though they were family, sometimes Papyrus did not approve of their behavior or their tactics.

More often than not they roamed the streets of the city till all hours of the night looking for trouble or carousing in the local monster bar run by Grillby, who was a friend of the family.

“Aw what’s the matter Papyrus? Don’t want to share with your cousins?”

Herculanum’s grin widened. Papyrus raised his eye ridge. What was he talking about? He heard Trattatelo snicker.

“We heard that yous were seen draggin’ a young lady home~”

Papyrus froze. They knew? Papyrus huffed.

“YOU MISUNDERSTAND COUSIN. SHE WAS A WITNESS TO ONE OF MY “ASSIGNMENTS”. I BROUGHT HER HERE SO IT COULD BE DETERMINED IS SHE NEEDED TO BE DISPOSED OF OR JUST INTIMIDATED.”

Herculanum scoffed. “Why not jus’ kill her? Seems to me you had other things on your mind when you brought her here cuz~”

Papyrus felt his face begin to blush a little. “SHE DID NOT PROVOKE ANYTHING. THERE WAS NO REASON TO KILL HER UNLESS SHE HAD TRIED TO RUN.”

Herc’s grin widened. 

“Still. Girl must be somethin’ if you decided to bring’er here instead of takin’ care of it yer’self.”

The big skeleton rose from the table and stretched. 

“Well, I’m guessin’ Wing and Dings already took care of things, so I’m gonna go watch tv.”

With that, Herc left the kitchen.

Papyrus sighed in relief. 

Unbeknownst to him though, Herculanum was making his way up the stairs to the youngest skeleton’s room instead.

He thought he might introduce himself to the little lady first.

.......

She couldn’t explain it, but Papyrus’s spaghetti was pretty fucking good!

Maybe it was just the exhaustion catching up to her or her sudden extreme hunger, but in that moment, it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten.

She was a little sad when she finished her plate. Now that her stomach was full, she felt a bit better. She had to admit Papyrus was a lot more...hospitable then what she first thought.

‘It doesn’t change the fact that he’s still a murderer’

Suddenly there was a small knock on the door.

Papyrus? So soon? 

She hurried to put her dishes neatly on the nightstand as he had instructed her. No need to get on his nerves at this point.

The door opened slowly.

In walked a skeleton that she didn’t recognize. She felt her throat go dry. Unlike the others she had seen with Papyrus earlier, this one was a little more-scary. His teeth seemed to be just a little too sharp and his phalanges a little too claw-like.

“Hey there sweetheart.”

She felt the food in her stomach begin to churn. His voice was much deeper too. Almost...predatory.

He looked her up and down, his eyes seeming to take in every detail. He smirked.

“Names Herculanum babe, but you can call me Herc.”

He stepped closer, cornering her on the bed. She felt sweat breaking out on her neck. He placed his hands on either side of her frame, effectively boxing her into his body. He leaned forward until he was face to face with her.

“I’d like ta ask ya a few questions if you don’t mind sweetheart~”


	4. Comforter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will happen with Reader and Herculanum? Will Papyrus be able to make it right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! The next chapter will take a little longer because I am in the middle of moving to a new house :). Also, a commissioned art of this chapter is posted on my Tumblr @turtleskele if you want to check it out. I hope you all stay safe and well during this time, and thank you for all of your support and nice comments :3  
> Also please check out A Murderer in the Subway by aka-indulgence! It is the inspiration for this story and goes into more detail about the skeleton family as a whole. Thanks!

Herculanum could feel the intense fear rolling off of the girl in front of him. His grin widened. This was always his favorite part; the intimidation. He could always get a sense of what sort of person a human was, just by invading their personal space.

The girl began to shake visibly in front of him. She wouldn’t look him in the eye, though she kept giving him cautious looks. She wasn’t a complete coward, he could tell. But she was definitely afraid of him.

Good.

Herc looked her up and down. He had to admit, she was a cute little thing. He reached out his hand to touch her hair. He wanted to see how far she would let him go, before she fought back~

He felt her freeze at his contact. Her breath became more frantic and anxiety ridden. 

Yes, she was very cute~

He began to slide his hand down her face, under her chin, down her neck, her shoulder, her-

“HERCULANUM!!”

In a instant the bigger skeleton was slammed against the back wall. His soul was visible and blue in front of his chest.

“HOW DARE YOU TREAT OUR GUEST WITH SUCH DISRESPECT!!”

Papyrus’ eye flared in anger. 

“H-hey cuz! I was only talkin to her-“

Though Herc was bigger in size, he knew his magic was no match in strength compared to Papyrus.

“DO NOT LIE TO ME COUSIN! I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE “DOING”. LET IT BE CLEAR THAT THIS HUMAN IS UNDER MY WATCH AND THEREFORE MY PROTECTION! YOU WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO “TALK” WITH HER OR OTHERWISE AGAIN! UNDERSTOOD?”

The big skeleton was sweating bullets. He nodded grudgingly. Papyrus released his soul, dropping him to the floor. The bigger monster slowly got up and looked at the younger one with animosity. Papyrus’ eye began to glow again.

“LEAVE. NOW.”

Without another word, Herculanum exited the room.

Papyrus immediately turned his attention to the girl. She was sitting next to the bed hunched over into a ball again. As he listened more closely, he could hear her softly sobbing.

“Human? Are You-“

“I wanna go home!”

Papyrus was struck silent by her anguished cry. She lifted her head to reveal her tear streaked face.

“Please, I promise I won’t tell anyone about what I saw-I just wanna go home!”

She began to sob loudly, covering her face which had turned red from exertion. Her frame was still shaking.

Papyrus had an overwhelming urge to pick her up and comfort her; hold her close and tell her it would be ok and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again. Dry those tears and shush her until she finally melted into him.

The youngest skeleton felt another shiver go down his spine. He shook himself. Where did those feelings come from?

Wherever they came from, he knew those types of advances would only frighten the little human more. He needed a way he could make her relax. 

He watched her silently, as her crying ebbed and flowed over and over.

....flowed?

“HUMAN, I UNDERSTAND YOUR DISTRESS AT YOUR SITUATION. UNFORTUNATELY I CANNOT LET YOU LEAVE UNTIL MY BROTHERS HAVE CONCLUDED WHAT YOU TOLD THEM ABOUT YOURSELF WAS THE TRUTH. UNTIL THEN I HAVE BEEN TASKED TO WATCH OVER YOU.”

The girl looked up at him, her tears subsiding momentarily.

“AS SUCH, I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE YOU COMFORTABLE-WITHIN REASON MIND YOU! THAT BEING SAID, I BELIEVE A HOT BATH WOULD HELP YOU TO CALM YOUR NERVES AND RELAX- EVEN IN THE SLIGHTEST.”

The girl gave him a worried and suspicious look. Papyrus sighed at the tedious nature of this conversation.

“THE DOOR LOCKS FROM THE INSIDE. THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME OR ANY OTHERS TO GET IN ONCE ITS LOCKED.”

The younger skeleton left out the part of them possibly using magic; but no need to add to her distrust.

She turned to face him, softly wiping stray tears from her face. 

“TOWELS ARE IN THE CABINET TO THE LEFT OF THE DOOR. SOAP AND BODY WASH ARE KEPT ORGANIZED IN THE SHOWER CADDY-PLEASE BE SURE TO RETURN EVERYTHING TO ITS PROPER PLACE! AS FOR YOUR CLOTHES; AFTER YOU HAVE CHANGED OUT OF THEM, LEAVE THEM OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR SO I CAN WASH THEM FOR YOU. NO DOUBT THEY ARE DIRTY FROM YOUR LONG DAY.”

The girls eyebrows knit together.

“B-but if you take my clothes, what will I wear when I get out of the shower?”

Papyrus paused. He had not thought of that. She probably wouldn’t want to linger in a towel after what had just happened. He turned to his drawers, sifting through them. Most of his everyday clothes were dress shirts and slacks, which he did not want to risk wrinkling. He kept searching, until he pulled out a sweater.

It was very rare he ever dressed down, but sometimes when he stayed at home, it was easier to just pull on a sweater. He brought it over to the girl. 

Hesitantly she stood and took it from him. She held it up to her frame. As he expected, his monster sized clothes were extremely long compared to her tiny human body.

The thought of her wearing his clothes made his soul begin to thump. He cleared his throat to bring his mind back to its proper place. No more foolishness.

“I WILL BE BACK TO CHECK FOR YOUR CLOTHES IN 30 MINUTES. IF YOU DO NOT NEED ANYTHING ELSE, I WILL LEAVE YOU.”

The girl shook her head, clutching the sweater.

Papyrus nodded, exiting the room. As he walked down the hall, thoughts of the cute human being dressed in only his sweater sent chills down his spine. His soul started thumping again. He knew he needed to occupy himself with other things or those thoughts would make him do something he’d regret.

....

As she sat in the water watching the steam rise, she felt a weight begin to lift. Despite the fact that he had killed someone, Papyrus was turning out to be...kinder than expected. Of course he was still very straightforward and to the point. No nonsense and always organized. This was evidenced to her by the extremely well organized shower caddy hanging from the shower head. Everything was labeled and put in order of importance. Apparently he shared this room and bathroom with one of his brothers. Or maybe...that terrifying skeleton he had called his cousin.

She shuddered, trying to shake the memory of his touches. If Papyrus hadn’t stepped in...

She turned her thoughts back to the tall skeleton. Had he really meant what he’d said? That he would protect her? 

She felt something in her heart flutter. She sank deeper into the water until her nose touched it. No one had ever wanted to protect her before....

Maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad, all she had to do was wait for his brothers to check her story and-

Then what? 

Would they really let her go? Would she just walk away from this and forget this ever happened? Life would be normal again...

Could it be that simple?

She sighed. No doubt it was more complicated than that. And what if they were just really good at lying? Was all this stuff with Papyrus just a sham until they figured out how to get rid of her?

She felt her heart sink again at that thought. Wouldn’t be the first time someone had gone back on their word with her; or used her...or hurt her. 

She sighed and reached for the plug.In that moment, she kinda wished Papyrus would come back soon, so she wouldn’t have to relive those memories.

.....

As he suspected, the human’s clothes were filthy and in need of washing. She had left them in a pile outside the door, devoid of undergarments-which he was thankful for.

He couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like in his clothes. Of course, it would be a while before her clothes dried so he had no excuse to go see her again.

Papyrus shook himself. He didn’t need a reason to see her. It was HIS room and she was a prisoner after all, he had every right to check on her. A pang went through his soul at those thoughts. A prisoner...is that what she felt like?

He pushed that thought away. It did not matter what she felt like. His job was to keep an eye on her, nothing else.

He headed up the stairs, almost skipping steps on the way up. He paused at the door. What if she wasn’t dressed yet? He felt his soul leap. He shook his head and knocked on the door. 

“HUMAN, IM COMING IN.”

He opened the door slowly. She was laying on her stomach on the bed, reading one of his books off the shelf. At his presence, she swung her feet over the side and sat up. 

Papyrus stared, still holding onto the door handle. Even though it was large, his sweater fell right above her knees. Her arms were engulfed in fabric, which she kept pushing back every few seconds. The collar hung a little loose on her neck showing some of her chest.She looked like she was positively swimming in his shirt.

And he loved it~

His hand twitched with the urge to reach out and smooth her damp and wild hair. 

“Papyrus?”

He pulled himself out of his trance and looked her in the eyes. It was then he realized he had been staring for an awkwardly long time. He felt his face turning red. 

“I- CAME TO CHECK IF YOU NEEDED ANYTHING BEFORE I WENT TO BED.”

She stared at him for a moment, seemingly weighing out something in her mind. 

“...Am I sleeping in here?”

Papyrus was confused by the question. Why was she asking him when it was obvious?

“YES. I DOUBT YOU WOULD WANT TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH AFTER THAT INCIDENT WITH MY COUSIN.”

She nodded in agreement. He was still confused by the nature of her question.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

He watched her silently. Why was she asking so many questions all of a sudden?

“MOST LIKELY ON THE COUCH. DO NOT WORRY, I WILL BE FINE.”

She nodded again, this time looking a bit...forlorn. Papyrus sighed and turned to leave.

“GOOD NIGHT HUMAN.”

“W-wait!”

He paused and turned back to look at her. She was fidgeting and wouldn’t look at him.

“You-....You could stay in here.”

The tall skeleton’s eye ridge went up.

“I-I mean there’s another bed here so...you don’t have to sleep on the couch.”

Papyrus was silent. He watched as she fidgeted with the edge of the sweater. He saw red creeping into her cheeks. She was asking him to stay? He felt his soul leap, but his outward appearance didn’t falter.

“WHY?”

The girl looked up at him. The sweater in her nervous hands was scrunched up, showing just a bit more of her legs. Papyrus could feel something building up in him he had not felt before.

A need...a hunger~

“I-“ the girl looked down at the bunched up sweater again. She tried to talk again but couldn’t. 

She was so cute~

“I don’t want to be alone again.”

Her voice finally came out in a embarrassed and terrified whisper. So that was it. She was afraid; afraid something might happen again. Afraid someone might try to come in again. 

“HUMAN, WILL ME BEING HERE MAKE YOU FEEL SAFER?”

She sighed. He could see the weight of the entire day come down on her in that sigh. She was exhausted and though calmer, she was still terrified.

She nodded. 

He felt his soul skip a beat. The cute human wanted him to stay with her?He wondered what she would look like; asleep in his bed-so small compared to everything on it.

Outwardly, the tall skeleton crossed his arms. 

“I SUPPOSE IT WOULD BE WISE FOR ME TO MAKE SURE NO ONE ELSE TRYS ANYTHING DURING THE NIGHT. VERY WELL I ACCEPT YOUR OFFER. I WILL TAKE THE TOP BUNK, SINCE YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY ALREADY SETTLED ON THE BOTTOM.”

Truthfully, he wanted a birds eye view of her while she slept. 

The girl nodded and laid back down; bedding herself down underneath the blankets.

He turned on the lamp on the bedside table, then turned out the lights.

She watched as he made his way over to his drawers and began to loosen his tie. Once it was off he carefully folded it and placed it back in its spot in the drawer. Then he stalked back over to the bunk bed and stared down at the human. She looked back up at him, this time not averting her gaze.

“GOOD NIGHT.”

“Good night.” She whispered back.

With a grunt of approval, Papyrus climbed the ladder to the top bunk and settled down. 

“...Papyrus?”

Her voice was small but strong.

“YES?”

“Thanks.”

“...YOU’RE WELCOME.”


	5. Cooking with Papyrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’ve woken up after a pretty good sleep. Papyrus, trying to be accommodating finds out from you that you enjoy baking. Interested in spending more time with you, he offers to teach you some cooking skills. But will chef Papyrus remember that you are still new to cooking? We shall see...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to try and write a double chapter again, but got stuck so I decided to post this one. More chapters soon!
> 
> Also! I have my first fanart! Drawn by Silvang!  
> I posted it on my tumblr @turtleskele  
>  And here is the original link on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/ylxtfqv

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. But the sound of the little human’s breathing below him had lulled him to sleep. It was much different than the snoring he was used to when Sans slept there; not that his brother spent much time with his family anymore anyways. 

Besides his assignments, he didn’t spend much time with his family at all; opting to spend his every free moment with his “girl”.

Papyrus stared at the sleeping girl on the bottom bunk. She was clutching the pillow tightly, her knees curled in towards her chest, a very defensive position. Her hair fell over her cheeks hiding her cute face. He squatted down beside the bed. He wanted to see her sleeping face, up close. Carefully, he brushed the hair behind her ear. She flinched but did not wake up. 

As he watched her back rise and fall, he began to understand Sans’ current obsession with his new lady friend. The little human was intoxicating, he found himself being pulled to her. Though he wasn’t sure he would ever be as fully involved with a girl like Sans was, he had to admit he wouldn’t mind having her around for awhile~

He sighed and pushed those thoughts away. 

She wasn’t here to be friendly with though. Besides, he had very high standards that he doubted she would be able to meet-no matter how cute she was. He took one last long look before heading towards the door. 

He better make breakfast before she woke up. He would hate for her to find him gone and start to worry herself again. 

.........

She woke up slowly. Her eyes felt swollen and puffy from all the crying she had done the night before.

She looked around her, letting her eyes adjust. She was still in Papyrus’s room. Nothing had happened, no one had tried anything. 

The girl sat up, listening for breathing coming from the top bunk. Was he still asleep? Did skeletons even breathe? 

She didn’t hear anything; no movement, nothing.

That’s when her eyes came to rest on the side table. There lay her clothes, neatly folded with a note sitting on top. She reached for the piece of paper. 

‘HUMAN, I HAVE GONE DOWNSTAIRS TO PREPARE BREAKFAST. IF YOU WAKE UP BEFORE I RETURN, GET DRESSED AND WAIT FOR ME; I WILL BRING BREAKFAST TO YOU. IF YOU ARE STILL ASLEEP WHEN I RETURN, I WILL LEAVE IT ON THE TABLE NEXT TO YOUR CLOTHES. PAPYRUS’

The girl felt herself smile a bit. Even though he was a killer, he seemed to be very thoughtful, if not just detail oriented. 

She looked over at her clothes. They were folded nicely and smelled of what she could only describe as a mans cologne. Deep, rich, and musky. They felt soft as she picked them up. At least she had something familiar in this place. 

At that moment she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She felt her heart quicken. Was it Papyrus? The door opened slowly. 

Papyrus peeked in the door.

“OH HUMAN, YOU’RE AWAKE.”

He closed the door behind him, setting the tray of food in his hands on the bedside table.

“DID YOU SLEEP WELL?”

The girl nodded. 

“Yes. Thanks for...staying.”

A look of surprise crossed the youngest skeleton’s face. The girl thought she also saw some red spreading across his face, but he turned away before she could see.

“NO THANKS IS NEEDED. IT IS MY JOB TO KEEP AN EYE ON YOU.”

The girl clutched her clothes tighter. 

“Yeah...right.”

Papyrus sighed.

“GO GET DRESSED HUMAN. YOUR BREAKFAST IS GETTING COLD.”

The girl nodded and retreated to the bathroom.

....

The girl seemed a little less uncomfortable when she was finally in her own clothes again. She ate her breakfast without much conversation, though her facial expressions said many words. Finally she finished her plate.

“Thank you for the food, you’re a very good cook.”

The youngest skeleton felt a beam of pride go through him.

“OF COURSE HUMAN! THERE IS NO GREATER COOK THAN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

The girl gave him a small, smile. Papyrus felt his soul thump a bit.

So cute~

“I wish I were better at cooking, I know the basics and I’m not too bad, but I could definitely be better. I do like to bake though.”

Papyrus raised his eye ridge.

“REALLY?”

She nodded. “It helps me to relax.”

Papyrus considered this. It would probably help the human stay calm if she were doing something she loved.

“...WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY AND COOK SOMETHING?”

The girl looked up at him in surprise.

“...what?”

Papyrus studied her face. She didn’t seem apposed to the idea, just surprised to hear him say it.

“YOU COULD HELP ME PREPARE LUNCH AND DURING THAT I COULD TEACH YOU HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR COOKING SKILLS!”

She looked away sheepishly.

“Are you sure? I’ve been told I’m not exactly easy to teach. I-I tend to get overwhelmed very easily when I don’t understand or know how to do something.”

Papyrus puffed his chest up in pride.

“NYEH HEH HEH! YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF THIS HUMAN, BUT AMONG MY MANY TALENTS I POSSESS, I AM ALSO AN EXCELLENT TEACHER! I’M CERTAIN THAT BY THE TIME IM DONE WITH YOU, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO COOK AT AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL. ALTHOUGH STILL NOT AS GOOD AS ME!”

She looked down at her lap, seeming to contemplate his offer. A troubled look came over her face.

“What about...your family? Won’t your brothers be upset to see me-out? A-And what about-“

“DO NOT WORRY HUMAN, MY COUSINS ARE GONE FOR THE DAY AND DO NOT USUALLY RETURN UNTIL NIGHTFALL. AS FOR MY BROTHERS, THEY ARE OUT WORKING FOR NOW.”

The youngest skeleton got up and strode over to the door. He opened it wide and looked back at her.

“WELL?”

The girl blinked a few times, before finally rising from the bed and following him out the door.

.....

“A GOOD KNIFE IS A CHEF’S BEST FRIEND.”

The tall skeleton brandished the utensil in front of the girl.

“IF SHARPENED AND PROPERLY CARED FOR IT CAN BE USED FOR A VARIETY OF JOBS.”

He saw the girl visibly swallow as the blade got near her.

“DO NOT WORRY HUMAN, ALL KNIVES IN THIS KITCHEN HAVE ONLY BEEN USED FOR COOKING.”

Without another thought, he turned and grabbed the vegetable he was going to dispatch.

“OBSERVE CAREFULLY HUMAN. I WILL SHOW YOU ONCE, THEN I WILL LET YOU TRY.”

She nodded and watched as he made quick work of the vegetable in front of him barely missing a beat.

“NOW YOU TRY.”

He motioned for her to step in front of the cutting board, handing her the knife handle first. He placed another vegetable down and stood off to the side, watching her intently. 

Slowly, the girl tried mimicking his movements as she chopped the vegetable. 

“NO, NO, NO! YOUR DOING IT ALL WRONG HUMAN! SLANT THE BLADE IN AND THEN CHOP DOWN!”

The girl nodded, adjusted the blade, and tried again.

“NOW YOUR JUST SAWING IT! IT’S NOT A PIECE OF WOOD, SLANT THE BLADE AND THEN CHOP STRAIGHT DOWN!”

The girl tensed, her hand shaking, chopping down dangerously close to one of her fingers. Something stopped the blade just in time. A bony hand grasped the knife, mere centimeters from cutting off the tip of her finger. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU COULD HAVE CHOPPED YOUR DAMN FINGER OFF! WHY WEREN’T YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!”

The girl let go off the knife and took a step back, hugging herself tightly. She let out a ragged breath. 

“If your going to just keep yelling at me, I might as well just go back upstairs and you can finish lunch by yourself!”

This gave Papyrus pause. In his zeal for culinary perfection he had forgotten that she was still a novice. He had wanted this to help calm her down and maybe get another one of those adorable smiles out of her. But in his haste to teach he had forgotten how fragile she was right now.

“...MY APOLOGIES. I TEND TO GET OVER ZEALOUS WHEN IT COMES TO COOKING. I WOULD LIKE IT IF YOU STAYED TO HELP ME-CAN WE TRY AGAIN?”

The girl gave him a wary look. The tall skeleton sighed.

“WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER THIS TIME. I WILL GUIDE YOU TO SHOW YOU THE PROPER FORM. I ...PROMISE TO WATCH MY TONE.”

‘Just trust me human. Give me another chance. I won’t let you down.’

He saw the girl give a small sigh. Finally she walked slowly back to the cutting board.

Papyrus felt his soul leap. 

The girl hesitantly picked back up the knife, then looked back at him, waiting.

Papyrus came up behind her, laying his giant hands over hers as gently as possible. He was careful to keep his body from touching hers-which wasn’t hard because of the size difference.But even so; his soul thumped from the close contact. 

She was so small~

He moved her free hand to the vegetable and positioned her hand properly on it.

“YOU MUST USE YOUR KNUCKLES TO HOLD IT DOWN. THIS WAY IT WILL NOT SLIP WHEN YOU ARE HOLDING THE VEGETABLE, KEEPING YOUR FINGERS INTACT.”

She glanced back at him and nodded. He thought he detected a hint of red on her face. But otherwise, she was remaining quite calm at his contact.

Gently, he picked up her hand with the knife and situated it over the vegetable.

Her little body was now completely encircled and engulfed by his own. Though he took great care to keep her separated from him, he could feel the feeling from earlier creeping up in him.

Hunger....need.

He wanted her closer-right up on him. Close enough to smell and caress~

Papyrus snapped himself out of that train of thought. He had to admit, the human was intoxicating. But she still did not meet all of his standards! It would take more than an interest in cooking to hook him.

But...there was no harm in being a little bit closer~

“NOW, YOU POSITION YOUR KNIFE SLANTED STARTING AT THE TIP AND SLOWLY PUSH IT FORWARD WHILE BRINGING IT DOWN.”

He demonstrated this to her while guiding her hand gently through the motions. After a few more demonstrations, Papyrus reluctantly released his hold so she could try on her own.

“VERY GOOD HUMAN! YOU LEARN FAST, BY THE END OF THIS YOU MIGHT JUST BE A NOVICE AT IT!”

The girl gave him a small embarrassed smile.

Papyrus could feel himself itching to be close to her again. 

.....

It took awhile, but they soon fell into a groove. 

Slowly, lunch came together until finally the last thing to do was plate it.

“NOW JUST GENTLY SPREAD IT OUT ON THE PLATE IN A FAN SHAPE....YES, JUST LIKE THAT EXCELLENT WORK HUMAN.”

The tall skeleton looked over her shoulder as she spread the finishing touches on each plate, gently guiding her hands when needed.

Finally, she finished and looked back to admireher work.

Papyrus laid a hand carefully on her shoulder.

“VERY GOOD WORK HUMAN. YOU DID VERY WELL.”

The girl looked up at him and smiled, making his soul race.

“Well, I did have a good teacher.”

He could feel his cheekbones turning red at her compliment, and had to be mindful not to squeeze her shoulder in his excitement.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat.

Both the girl and the younger skeleton turned to find two of his brothers standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Are we...interrupting?” 


	6. A Lunch and A Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dings and Wing may not be the greatest at picking up on social cues, but when it comes to their younger brother, they can read him very well. They know what he wants...even if he’s not sure himself. What’s wrong with giving him a little push?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life has become ULTRA busy for me! So future updates will be slower in coming, but rest assured I am committed! Enjoy! And as always thank you for your kind comments, I do appreciate them :3

Dings raised his eye ridge, looking from the girl to his younger brother. Wing was trying unsuccessfully to keep from smiling at the situation.

Papyrus slowly removed his hand from the girl’s shoulder.

“BROTHERS...IT ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. I WAS SIMPLY KEEPING...A CLOSE WATCH ON THE HUMAN.”

Both of the younger skeleton’s brothers crossed their arms. Wing cleared his throat trying to keep from laughing.

“Yes we saw just how CLOSE you’ve been watching her.”

The older skeletons saw that their younger brother’s face was now substantially redder and the young lady wasn’t fairing any better. 

Dings put his hand on Wing’s shoulder to stop his snickering and turned to address the two in front of them.

“We believe you brother. And from what I can smell, you and the human did a very good job at preparing lunch. Why don’t we all go sit in the dining room and enjoy it together?”

Papyrus looked surprised at this request. So was the young woman standing next to him.

“T-That’s ok, I should probably just go back upstairs. I wouldn’t want to intrude-“

The girl stopped mid sentence as Dings came to stand next to her, putting his hand on her back in the process.

“Nonsense! You and my brother made this wonderful meal for the family, so it would be a shame for you to have to eat it alone. Please, come and join us~”

He gave a small push to indicate that she should follow him. In the next instance, Wing was on the other side of her with his hand on her back as well.

“Yes please do~”

“BROTHERS THIS IS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY!”

Papyrus was still beaming red due to his brothers behavior.

Dings looked back at his brother and grinned. 

“Nonsense Papyrus, the human is more than excited to sit with us for lunch. Right human?”

The girl looked at the two of them nervously, then nodded.

“O-ok, sure.”

“Good, then it’s settled! Papyrus be a dear andbring lunch with you while we show our young guest to the dining room.”

With that, the two older skeletons each hooked one of the girl’s arms and led her into the other room

....

The girl stared down at her plate nervously.

What was going on?

When Papyrus’s brothers had come home and caught her down in the kitchen helping him, she assumed the worst.

How do you tell if a skeleton is angry?

While she had expected to have them get extremely angry at her being out of her “cell”, what she didn’t expect was for them to invite her- or rather force her, to have lunch with them.

Currently both of them sat across from her, staring her down like a lab rat. When Papyrus had brought in the food, they had insisted Papyrus should sit next to her, which Papyrus had fussed about, saying they were being nuisances.

The girl had politely taken a few bites of her food but had found it hard to eat much more while being watched.

Finally the skeleton called Dings cleared his throat.

“So human, how was it cooking with Papyrus?”

Papyrus looked up from his food mid-bite and glared at his older sibling.

“BROTHER; DON’T.”

Dings smiled at his baby brother’s discomfort and continued on.

“He does have a tendency of to get over zealous when he’s cooking, and I’m worried that he might have given you the wrong impression of him.”

The girl blinked, not sure how to respond. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Papyrus’s fist clenched on the table.

“I wanted to reassure you that underneath that foul temperament and gruff exterior, beats a soul of gold.”

Dings clasped his hands under his chin, smiling mischievously at the girl.

“Yes! While our younger brother can be a bit...intense during certain activities, altogether he is a very thoughtful individual; more than one should be in our line of work really.”

Wing chimed in, smirking pointedly at his younger brother.

Papyrus slammed his fist on the table and stood up, making the girl jump. 

“BROTHERS I INSIST YOU STOP PESTERING THE HUMAN AT ONCE! SHE WAS SIMPLY HELPING ME PREPARE LUNCH AND NOTHING MORE!”

Both brothers gave him an unperturbed look. 

“Papyrus don’t throw a fit in front of our guest. We were just trying to help you. We know how you can get during cooking. Besides we don’t want her to think that we’re COMPLETE monsters now do we?”

Dings’ eye ridge went up, waiting for his younger brother’s reply.

Papyrus was silent as he gave his elder brother a begrudging look; but not arguing with his logic.

“Good. Now sit down.”

When Papyrus hesitated, the girl thought she saw one of Dings’ eyes glow. But by the time she re-adjusted her gaze, his eye lights seemed normal.

Reluctantly, Papyrus did as he was told, sitting down with a huff next to her.

Satisfied, Dings turned his attention back to the girl. The older monster could tell she was very uncomfortable with all of the attention.

How cute~

“I guess you’re wondering when we’re going to let you out of this godforsaken place, hmm?”

The girl blinked at his statement, before realizing what he was talking about.

“Oh! N-no I-“

“Don’t worry dear, it’s what every person who walks through those doors thinks. But most are not as lucky as you-they never walk back out~”

The girl thought she saw Wing’s eyelights glow menacingly, but when she looked back they were normal.

She gulped.

“That being said, your story checks out and you are free to go as of tomorrow. Of course, you do know what that entails?”

Dings looked at her pointedly in the eyes. In this instance there was no mistaking he was serious.

She nodded quickly.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Papyrus will be checking in on you from time to time, to make sure you keep your end of the bargain. Other than that, you’ll never be bothered by us again.”

Dings nodded at her.

“Unless...you want to be~”

Wing gave her a mischievous grin, glancing in Papyrus direction.

The girl heard Papyrus groan irritably behind her. She ducked her head and shrugged, unsure of what to answer.

Dings cleared his throat to break the silence.

“So my dear, do you like puzzles?”

He gently laid his hand over hers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Papyrus stiffen.

“...Like piece together puzzles o-or mind puzzles?”

The girl fidgeted underneath his touch, uncomfortable with its presence but not wanting to cause trouble.

“A little of both I guess. Papyrus is an expert when it comes to solving them and creating them. In fact he’s in the process of creating one right now; sort of a little hobby of his.”

Out of the corner of her eye, the girl could see Papyrus’ fist tightening on the table again.

“Would you like to see it?”

Wing was now leaning across the table, completely ignoring his younger brother’s glare.

The girl looked uncertainly up at the both of them. Unlike humans, they were very hard to read. She had no idea whether they were serious or not. All she could do was try...

“....Sure, I guess. I think it would be pretty cool actually.”

She felt her face blush as she said this, feeling Papyrus’ gaze on her.

“Well then, Papyrus why don’t you go show her? It’s in the living room. We’ll clean up from lunch!”

Dings smiled exuberantly at her.

“IF IT MEANS GETTING THE HUMAN AWAY FROM YOU TWO AND YOUR CHILDISHNESS THEN I WILL! LET’S GO HUMAN!”

Papyrus pulled out her chair and waited for her to stand, then pushed it back in and lead her towards the living room.

The two older skeletons watched as they exited the dining area.

“...Do you think he has a chance with her?”

Wings raised his eye ridges at his brother in question.

Dings shrugged.

“I believe that is entirely up to the young lady.”

Wing smiled mischievously.

“She better make the decision fast or, knowing Papyrus, he’ll choose for her.”

Dings rolled his eye lights.

“Then we’ll have TWO captive females to worry about!”

....

As they entered the living area, Papyrus paused and turned to face the human. 

“I APOLOGIZE FOR MY BROTHERS’ BEHAVIOR. WHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESS ENDEAVORS THEY ARE FINE, BUT OTHERWISE-“

“They like to mess with you?”

The girl looked up thoughtfully at the tall skeleton. He nodded in agreement.

The girl shrugged nodding knowingly.

“Yeah, my brother does that too. Except mine is younger so he’s just plain annoying.”

Papyrus raised his eyeridge in surprise at this tidbit of information. The girl realized this and covered her mouth, crumpling under his gaze.

The tall skeleton rolled his eye lights and continued into the living room.

“DO NOT WORRY HUMAN. IT IS HARMLESS INFORMATION, I HAVE NO NEED OF IT.”

‘For now.’

His mind rumbled with that thought for a moment, before he shook it away. 

.....

As they entered the living room, the girl saw the puzzle in question laid out on the coffee table. It’s many pieces were laid out around the main board. The girl gasped under her breath. 

“Papyrus, you made this?”

Papyrus felt his soul thump with pride.

“NYEH HEH! OF COURSE I DID HUMAN! EVERY PIECE YOU SEE BEFORE YOU WAS PAINSTAKINGLY HAND-CRAFTED BY I- THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” 

He struck a pose, trying his best to give her his best debonair grin.

She gave him a shy smile in return. She studied the puzzle.

“It’s a tangram right?”

Papyrus looked at her in surprise. 

“VERY GOOD HUMAN. YOU SEEM TO KNOW YOUR PUZZLES.”

The girl shrugged. 

“I play a game like this on my phone.”

She paused, before looking up at him.

“Can I...try to solve it?”

Papyrus felt his soul begin to pound. The human was interested in HIS puzzle? He felt himself begin to get hot under the collar.

‘Calm down. She only likes puzzles, that doesn’t mean she’s any good at them.’

“OF COURSE. BUT I WARN YOU; ALL OF MY PUZZLES ARE THE PEAK OF PUZZLEMENT, AND MAY NOT COME EASY TO A NOVICE SUCH AS YOURSELF. SO DO NOT FEEL BAD IF YOU CANNOT SOLVE IT.”

She nodded and sat down in front of it. He took a seat next to her, his weight making her body tilt towards his. He had to keep himself from leaning into to her, wanting to feel her body heat and to touch her skin.

The girl was focused intently on the puzzle board; trying pieces here and there, twisting and turning them. 

Papyrus could feel his soul thumping hard. She was so cute as she tried her best to solve his puzzle. No doubt she would get frustrated and ask for his help, which he would be more than willing to-

“Got it!”

Papyrus glanced down in surprise. Before him was the finished puzzle and a very pleased human smiling at him.

‘Oh no...She was meeting all his standards!’

“That was fun...do you have anymore I could try?”

Papyrus swallowed hard feeling his soul racing almost uncontrollably. Being so close to her, he could feel the warmth from her body. He want to reach out and touch her face; play with her hair and pull that beautiful body to him. And that smile-

“Papyrus?”

He blinked and pulled away from her trying to calm himself.

“Y-YES I DO HAVE MORE. THEY ARE UPSTAIRS. I WILL GO GRAB THEM-WAIT HERE!”

With that he exited quickly from the room.

......

The girl sat in the silence of the living room.

What had just happened?

One moment Papyrus was acting proud and friendly, the next he seemed to be...flustered by something. These skeletons were very hard to understand, but if she didn’t know any better, she might think that-

“Papyrus, we need your help in here!”

The girl froze.

“Papyrus, come to the lab now! We need your help!”

The girl looked back towards the stairs to see if Papyrus had heard them. There was no movement. Slowly she stood up.

Should she go instead? They sounded urgent.

Slowly, her feet started walking her toward where the voice had come from. 

.....

There was no mistaking which room the voice had come from, evident by a whirring sound; like something speeding up,popping, and sparking all at once.

As she stepped through the door, she saw them.

Wing held a giant wrench that he had fastened around a bolt on the weird contraption they were working on. He seemed to be trying to keep it from coming unfastened as the machine jerked and puffed under him. Dings had both hands tight on the sides, one of his eyes glowing a bright purple that seemed to envelope the box. This seemed to be one of the only things keeping the bulging sides of the machine from blowing outward.

“There you are! Quickly, grab the injector and syphon some of energy off then tighten the side bolts with the quarter wrench!”

The girl paused. Should she run and get Papyrus instead?

“Do it now damn it!”

There was no time to think. She looked around frantically until she found what she thought they were talking about. She walked over to them, tools in hand.

“Wait-your not-!”

“Dings now is not the time! It will blow if she doesn’t help!”

Wing strained to keep the wrench turned, looking at his brother.

Dings nodded.

“Use the thing that looks like a needle and draw the pin back to extract energy-be warned this stuff burns!”

The girl nodded and went to work with the injector. As she siphoned the excess energy off it took all her courage not to pull away; especially when some of it lashed out and burned her hand slightly. The machine slowly began to return to a manageable state. 

Wing was able to release his hold on the wrench and use the quarter wrench to tightened the side bolts.The machine fell into a soft thrum as all three of them gave a sigh of relief. 

The two older skeletons glanced curiously at the human girl who had come to their aid. She was cradling her burnt hand, trying to downplay how much it hurt. Both of the skeletons sighed.

“Let me see it.”

Dings held out his hand. 

The human shyly placed her injured hand in his grasp. He examined it for a moment before gently placing his other hand over it. 

A warm, tingly sensation flooded over her skin as a soft purple light began to emanate from his hand. The girl watched in amazed silence, taking in his glowing eye and the warmth of what she could only assume was magic.

She had heard that monsters, unlike humans, were comprised of magic instead of physical matter. Thus, monsters were born with the innate ability to use and control magic. This was her first time actually seeing it.

Monsters liked to keep to themselves on account of the fact humans, in general, were not always a welcoming species. This included their magical abilities.

Finally, Dings eye faded back to its usual light and he released her hand. The girl looked at it in amazement; there was no trace of the burn- not even a scar!

Both older skeletons chuckled at her surprised face.

“Thank you for your assistance human. Without your help, this project would have ended in disaster.”

Dings nodded at her.

A throat cleared behind her.

“In return, here’s a word of advice about Papyrus: our brother is the youngest and though he has more empathy than the rest of us, he is immensely spoiled. When he decides that he wants something, nothing gets in his way.”

Wing leaned in towards her, giving her a look she couldn’t quite decipher.

“Our advice would be to be cautious around him.”

The girl blinked. 

Did they really think that Papyrus-

“THERE YOU ARE HUMAN! YOU SHOULDN’T WANDER OFF LIKE THAT, I WAS GETTING WORRIED!”

.....

Papyrus felt a twinge of anger go through him as the human said good night to his brothers. 

How she had come to be sitting in their lab in between them was beyond him, but it still sent a quiver of jealousy through his soul. 

After she had solved his puzzle and asked for more, Papyrus’ had needed a moment to calm his racing soul and mind. Upstairs, he had paced in a daze, not quite sure what was wrong with him.

Why did this girl have so much pull over him? Every word she said-every little thing she did was hypnotic and left him feeling...well he wasn’t quite sure.

The feeling of hunger would not leave him. But it wasn’t the same as when he needed food. It was more of a need deep within his soul. A need for her. To have her. To make her his~

Yes, he was certain that is what it was.

Now, as he watched the girl beside him smile so sweetly a his brothers, his soul filled with that same feeling. 

By the time they had gotten ready for bed and the girl had settled herself in the bottom bunk, Papyrus could not take his eyes off her.

He paused before climbing up to his bunk and took in the tiny human resting in HIS bed.

He wanted so badly to pick her up and lay down with her on his chest-that warm, perfect little body on top of him.

Yes.

He had decided.

Despite the fact that she would be leaving his home tomorrow, it would not be the last time they would see each other. No matter what Papyrus was determined:

‘She will be mine~’


	7. Release to recapture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’ve finally been released back into your own life, but Papyrus has his mind set on winning your affection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but a lot of fun to write :3. Hope you enjoy and look forward to the drama to ensue in future chapters~

Papyrus pulled the car to a stop in front of the address the human had given him. Normally he would walk or take the subway to places in the city, but her house was just beyond the city in a small suburban area. Besides, Papyrus didn’t have the patience nor the want to have people staring at him with a young human woman. 

There would be too many questions. 

Dings and Wing had agreed with this logic and had loaned him the family business car. Papyrus was thankful for this; not only would he have more uninterrupted alone time with the human, but he also wouldn’t have to worry about miscreants and vagabonds ogling her. It would be only him and her~

He also wanted to see where she lived. For future reference...

He had been a bit surprised by her living conditions. It was a sturdy looking house in an ok neighborhood but definitely not what he had expected.

The girl looked up at him and smiled politely.

“Thank you for the ride Papyrus. It would’ve taken much longer to get home through the subways.”

Papyrus nodded.

“NO NEED FOR THANKS HUMAN, IT WOULD HAVE RAISED TOO MANY QUESTIONS IF WE HAD LET YOU WALK.”

The girl nodded, looking down a bit nervously. 

Papyrus reached into his pocket and pulled outher phone. The girl’s eyes lit up as she gratefully received it.

“I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF INPUTING MY NUMBER INTO YOUR PHONE SO THAT I MAY CONTACT YOU WHEN I COME TO DO YOUR CHECK INS.”

He didn’t mention that he had also taken the liberty of browsing through her social media, contacts and pictures; sending the cutest ones to himself~

“Oh...right, thanks.”

The reminder of his continued presence in her life seemed to worry her.

“REST ASSURED HUMAN, I WILL MAKE THEM AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE.”

The girl smiled thankfully at him.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment not sure how to end their encounter.

“Well...I guess I’ll see you around Papyrus.”

She smiled sweetly at him.

He nodded, trying to keep his mind in check.

“GOODBYE FOR NOW HUMAN.”

.....

‘SANS.’

Papyrus watched as the text was delivered and received by his brother’s phone. Recently Sans had stopped seeing or talking to his family altogether. He was even shirking his duties in favor of spending time with his ‘girl’. 

But Papyrus was determined to get ahold of him.

‘SANS ANSWER ME!’

‘I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS I NEED TO ASK YOU!’

‘SANS!’

...

‘SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS 

SANS

SANS!!!’

Suddenly the phone started ringing in his hand. It was his brother’s number. He hit answer.

“what the fuck do you want papyrus?! geez you’reblowin up my goddamn phone!”

Papyrus smirked at his brother’s discontent.

“AS I SAID IN MY FIRST TEXT BROTHER. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOU.”

“can’t you ask wing or dings instead of bothering me?”

“NO OF COURSE NOT. IF I COULD I WOULD NOT HAVE BOTHERED TO CALL YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE! BESIDES, THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SAME EXPERTISE IN THIS AREA AS YOU DO?”

“and what area might that be?”

“HUMAN WOMEN. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DID IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR GIRL FALL FOR YOU AND STAY WITH YOU. “

There was silence on the other end for a moment and Papyrus thought maybe his brother had hung up on him. But it didn’t last long.

“HAHAHAHAHA!! are you askin me for help in gettin a girl?”

Papyrus could feel his cheekbones getting hot.

“NO! I DO NOT NEED HELP FROM ANYONE-I SIMPLY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT MY ACTIONS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO YOURS!”

“heh, yeah sure pap, whatever you say.”

“WELL?”

“ok well-geez-you’re gonna want to learn all you can about her-her likes and interests and all that other stuff. so you might wanna follow her around for a bit to see what you can find.”

Just then Papyrus heard a softer voice on the other end seemingly correcting him. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the voice seemed to be female.

“uh-yeah-scratch everything I just said paps. why don’t you ask her out? then you could ask her all that stuff yourself and get to know each other.”

“AND WHAT IF...SHE DOES NOT WANT TO GO OUT WITH ME BECAUSE OF...CERTAIN REASONS?”

“wait...this girl wouldn’t happen to be your little witness now would it?”

Papyrus felt his face light up.

“heh heh heh, how cute; a captor falling in love with his captive. you two will make a great couple for sure~”

Papyrus growled at the sarcastic tone in his brother’s voice. Then he heard sudden soft whispering from the other line. Sans seemed like he leaned away from the phone because his voice became quieter as it spoke to the person with him.

“....not sure that’s a good idea babe....I don’t think-.....ok fine.”

There was a sudden shuffling sound on the other side. Papyrus waited impatiently.

“Hello?”

A soft female voice came over the phone to him.

“.....HELLO.”

“Hello Papyrus, I know you don’t know me but Sans said it would be ok to give you advice from a girls point of view.”

“YES?”

“My biggest advice is to take it slow. If she has reservations about you, do things that will convince her that you care for her and want what’s best for her. If she doesn’t want to go on a official date, you can still go on an “outing” together. Maybe a place she’s familiar with. Then you can work your way up to dating. Do not stalk her! That will only make her more wary of you.”

From the background Papyrus heard a groan. 

“I said I was sorry sweetheart!”

He heard the girl chuckle shyly into the phone. Papyrus felt himself smiling slightly. 

Yes. That was what he wanted. HIS girl beside him; laughing and comfortable next to him.

Yes...

Now he only had to be patient and earn her trust.

Papyrus heard a rustle as the phone was given back to his brother. He heard his brother talking with her as she seemingly walked out of the room-her voice getting further away. As soon as she was gone he heard his brother lean in.

“So my girl is right paps, listen to everything that she said. But personally...I would follow her anyways, just to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble...or other guys don’t get any ideas.”

Papyrus understood.

“Oh and paps? If you tell the others about speaking to my girl I’ll kill you.”

Papyrus smirked.

“ NYEH HEH, YOU CAN TRY BROTHER! BUT DO NOT WORRY, I WILL LET YOU CHOOSE WHEN YOU INTRODUCE YOUR YOUNG LADY TO US. I DO SO LOOK FORWARD TO IT~”

.....

The girl took a deep breath and let it out. 

This week had been...interesting. Nothing too out of the ordinary had happened except for her coworkers actually being concerned about her. But other than that, nothing had happened.

And that was what concerned her the most. That...and the constant feeling of being watched. She didn’t know if it was because she was afraid she might slip up and someone might report it back to THEM; or if someone was genuinely following her, but she had fallen back into her cycles of anxiety.

She breathed in and let it out slowly.

And now this:

‘HUMAN; I WILL BE CONDUCTING YOUR FIRST CHECK IN TODAY AT 7pm SHARP. I WILL MEET YOU OUTSIDE OF YOUR WORKPLACE AND PICK YOU UP FROM THERE. SINCERELY, PAPYRUS.’

The girl closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on her breathing and slowing her racing heart. Though Papyrus had promised that the check ins would be ‘painless’, it didn’t stop her from worrying if she had done anything wrong. And how the hell did he know where she worked?!

‘Calm down, it’s only a check in. He promised they would be easy. And he knows where you work because you had to tell them during your interrogation.’

The girl shuddered at that word as it passed through her mind, remembering the intense terror she was in at that time.

But where the hell was he gonna take her?!

Just then a huge shadow fell on her and tapped on her car window. The girl slowly opened the door.

“Hello Papyrus.”

The tall skeleton towered over her. His expression changed to one of pleasant content.

“HELLO AGAIN, HUMAN. I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU ARE WELL.”

The girl nodded, unsure of how to respond.Papyrus noticed the girl’s hesitancy.

“HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU SEEM A LITTLE SHAKEN?”

The girl swallowed visibly and looked up at him. 

“Am I in trouble?”

The tall skeleton raised his eye-ridge.

“NO NOT PARTICULARLY, UNLESS...YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING YOU FEEL WE SHOULD ADDRESS?”

The small human shook her head vigorously.

“No! It’s just...you said you were taking me somewhere and...I assumed...”

Papyrus’ natural frown deepened. In his efforts to try set up a casual meeting with her, he had succeeded only in making her worry more. He had unwittingly thrown her into a panic and now she was scared to be with him once more.

“I APOLOGIZE HUMAN. I DID NOT MEAN TO MAKE YOU WORRY. PLEASE KNOW I HAD NO INTENTION OF DOING SO. WHAT I MEANT IN MY MESSAGE, WAS THAT I WOULD BE PICKING YOU UP AND TAKING YOU OUT TO DINNER. I THOUGHT IT MIGHT MAKE YOUR FIRST CHECK IN A BIT LESS UNCOMFORTABLE.”

The tall skeleton could feel his cheekbones heating up at the mention of him ‘taking her out to dinner.’ He had meant for it to be a casual surprise where she could relax and enjoy his company. But somehow he had still managed to cause her to worry. 

“Oh....I’m so sorry.”

Papyrus looked questioningly down at the human. Her cheeks had flushed red with seeming embarrassment and she was rubbing her arms to calm herself. 

“I-I just assumed-“

The skeleton felt his soul quiver.

‘No,no! Don’t be sad!’

“IT WAS A MISTAKE HUMAN, IT UNDERSTANDABLE CONSIDERING WHAT YOU’VE GONE THROUGH. I PROMISE TO BE MORE PRECISE WITH MY MESSAGES IN THE FUTURE.”

He opened her car door further and extended his hand to her.

“NOW IF YOU PLEASE, WE MUST LEAVE IF WEWISH TO BEAT THE DINNER RUSH.”

The girl cautiously placed her hand in his. He helped her stand and shut her car door behind her, waiting as she locked it. Then he escorted her to his car, opening the door for her.

She gave him a shy smile making his soul flutter softly inside of him. After she was secure, he got in on the drivers side.

“Where are we going to eat?”

Papyrus started the engine of the car.

“YOU MAY CHOOSE.”

The girl smiled ecstatically. 

“I know just the place.”


	8. Two outings and a sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus begins to get closer to you, but something is in his way that must be removed~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s long, but it was so amazing to write :3 please enjoy and comment!

Papyrus viewed his surroundings with a critical eye. It was somesort of “international dishes” restaurant. The atmosphere was much louder than he was used too and the decor a bit tacky in his opinion. It was not the type of place he would have chosen to eat at- it was clearly not up to his standards. But at least the human was content.

He was just glad she had not chosen any of the surrounding ‘fast-food’ establishments nearby. He would have had to respectfully yet forcefully decline. If there was one thing he could not abide it was greasy food!

He watched as she happily gave her order to the waitress. Though Papyrus was fine with the human’s choice of food place, he was certain it would not meet his high standards. Thus when it was his turn to order, he made it simple;

“COFFEE, 2 ESPRESSO SHOTS, BLACK.”

As the the woman taking their order left, the tall skeleton thought he saw the human try and hide a smirk behind her hand. He raised his eye-ridge.

“WHAT?”

The girl unsuccessfully tried to hide her smile.

“Nothing, it’s just my dad always ordered his coffee black too and I could never understand how he could stand it.”

Papyrus raised an eye ridge at this new bit of information; storing it away for later use while enjoying her smile.

“WELL AS A CHILD, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS MY BROTHERS WERE ABLE TO AFFORD BESIDES OUR DILAPIDATED FIRST APARTMENT, WAS A BANGED UP OLD COFFEE MAKER AND SOME VERY CHEAP GROUND COFFEE. BUT THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR SUGAR. SO WE ALL DRANK IT BLACK. WE GOT USED TO THE TASTE OUT OF NECESSITY AND I HAVE CONTINUED TO DRINK IT THAT WAY SINCE THEN.”

He saw the girl’s face go soft with concern after hearing about his childhood. He didn’t like that look on her. He needed to fix it fast.

“...BUT MY BROTHER SANS INSISTS I DRINK IT THAT WAY BECAUSE ‘it’s black like my soul’. WHICH IS A RIDICULOUS NOTION, BUT HE SOMEHOW STILL FINDS IT FUNNY.”

He saw the girls smile returned though slightly more cautious. 

“Has it always just been you and your brothers?”

The tall skeleton paused at this question. She wanted to know about him? While he was flattered she had taken an interest in him, his past was somewhat a dangerous path to go down so early on. He cleared his throat. Time for a change of topic. 

“HUMAN, WHEN I CAME TO PICK YOU UP YOU SEEMED...SHAKEN. ARE YOU SURE EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT?”

He watched as the girl’s face fell. The look from earlier replaced her smile. She began to rub her arms again like she had when he had first picked her up.

“It’s just...I’ve been getting this weird feeling of being...watched.”

Papyrus interest piqued as his natural frown resumed its place. Despite his brother’s insistence that he should still follow her around, Papyrus had decided to follow the young woman’s advice and slowly become part of his girl’s life. Of course if all else failed, he would certainly have to resort to more-drastic measures. 

But to hear that she felt that she was being watched concerned him.

“I-it’s probably all in my head because I tend to get stressed out and worry about messing up. But...yeah.”

The girl hung her head in embarrassment. 

Papyrus felt his soul sink. This first outing wasn’t going as planned, the human was having a hard time relaxing in his presence- understandably because of what she had seen him do. She was still afraid of him and what she thought he would do to her if she messed up. 

The tall skeleton sighed. Though he knew it would be hard to change her perception of him, he had hoped it would be easier than this. But still...he had to keep trying.

“...WHILE I CAN ASSURE YOU NO ONE FROM MY FAMILY HAS BEEN FOLLOWING YOU, I WOULD NOT SIMPLY DISREGARD YOUR NATURAL INSTINCTS. IF YOU CONTINUE TO FEEL AS IF YOU ARE BEING WATCHED, PLEASE INFORM ME AND I WILL HANDLE IT FOR YOU.”

Papyrus thought he saw the girl’s cheeks tinge red. She gave him a shy smile.

“Thank you.”

Papyrus gave her a pleasant look in return.

“YOU’RE WELCOME.”

.....

Once their food arrived, the girl seemed to relax. He sipped his coffee as he watched her enjoy her meal happily. He was enjoying both quite immensely.

He had to admit this place made some decent food; at least by the look of itit looked somewhat edible. His cafe espresso was pretty damn good as well.

“So...Papyrus,”

The tall skeleton paused in taking another sip of his drink as the girl continued.

“Do we have to go somewhere else after this for the check in? Or do I have to answer a series of questions?”

Papyrus smirked as he drank some more of his coffee. Her naivety was only made cuter by that fact that she was not afraid to ask him questions. 

“WELL, HAVE YOU TOLD ANYBODY WHAT YOU SAW?”

The girl looked at him solemnly and shook her head.

“No.”

Papyrus set his cup back on the table and folded his hands under his chin.

“GOOD. THEN OUR CHECK IN IS FINISHED. AS SOON AS WE ARE DONE HERE I WILL DROP YOU BACK OFF AT YOUR CAR AND YOU MAY GO HOME.”

The girl looked at him in confusion.

“So going to dinner-“

“WAS MERELY A FORMALITY TO MAKE YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE FOR YOUR FIRST CHECK IN, AS I SAID EARLIER.”

The girl sat there staring at him silently for a few moments. Papyrus grinned and leaned in closer.

“OF COURSE, IF YOU ENJOYED IT WE COULD MAKE IT A REGULAR PART OF YOUR CHECK INS~”

The girls eyes went wide.

“Oh- No no please you don’t have to do that for me! I would feel so bad about you spending all that money on me-especially when you don’t need to.”

The skeleton raised his eye ridge. Inwardly he groaned. Yes; this was going to be much harder than he thought.

At that moment the waitress brought their check. The girl quickly rustled through her bag. 

“Please, let me-“

The tall skeleton held up his hand to stop her. He handed over two bills to the waitress, then turned to address the flustered human.

“THOUGH I AM NOT OBLIGATED TO TAKE YOU OUT, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THESE CHECK INS AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE SO YOU WILL NOT AGONIZE OVER THEM. BUT IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE GOING OUT EACH TIME, WE MAY CHOOSE ANOTHER ACTIVITY OF YOUR LIKING.”

‘Just as long as I get to spend time with you.~’

The girl stayed silent as she looked at him in confusion. He adored that look~ Now was the perfect time to learn more about her, without her suspecting his motives.

“IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR YOU PREFER?”

The little human tilted her head down in thought.

“...I like walking in the park. Strolling down the walking paths and watching the sunset through the trees. Of course lately, I haven’t been able to because I’m so exhausted after work. And it’s been getting darker faster and I don’t like being out alone at night.”

Papyrus felt his soul pounding fast. This was it; his way into her heart. If he could show her just how suave and debonair he could be-despite his career, maybe he could get her to trust him. And further on down the road...

Papyrus felt a shiver go down his spine. 

Yes.

She would come to love him in time. If only he could keep himself together until then.

......

After the first check in, time seemed to move more slowly in the youngest skeleton’s life. It was all he could do to keep himself focused and on task during his work.

They had arranged to meet again the following week at the park. Since the human worked all week for the majority of the day and weekends were the busiest time for him, they had finally agreed that he would pick her up Friday night from her work.

Time seemed to move at an agonizing pace, which in turn made the youngest skeleton short fused and impatient. Many of his “assignments” barely had time to make a sound before he had already finished.

Once Friday finally did come, waiting the entire day for the human to get off work was almost unbearable. 

As he waited outside of her work, he was unsure of how many times he had checked his watch before she finally appeared. She looked very tired and disheveled from her long day. But when she saw him, she greeted him with a smile. 

“Hello again Papyrus.”

The skeleton monster could feel his soul pounding as she said his name. The smile alone was enough to make his cheekbones heat up. 

“HELLO AGAIN HUMAN, IT IS NICE TO SEE YOU.”

The girl brushed some stray hairs behind her ear, a little embarrassed by his attention. 

“Are we still planning to go to the park?”

The hope in her voice was very evident. 

“OF COURSE, UNLESS YOU ARE TOO TIRED AND WOULD RATHER DO SOMETHING ELSE?”

Papyrus secretly hoped that she wasn’t. Though some alone time with her in his car wouldn’t be too bad either~

The tall monster shook his head to get those thoughts out. He was starting to act like Sans.

“No, I’m fine,” 

She looked away from him.

“I’ve kinda been looking forward to this all week. I haven’t been able to take a walk in the park for a while and...with you there I think I’ll feel safer.”

Papyrus saw her face getting red again. It took all his strength not to pull her to him. But he refused to sink to his brother’s level. At least...not yet~

“I BELIEVE WE SHOULD LEAVE QUICKLY THEN, IF YOU STILL WISH TO SEE THE SUNSET.”

She nodded and turned towards his car. He watched her for moment. Never in his life would he have thought that a human-especially a young woman, would be comfortable enough around him to feel “safe” with him. Or even go to his car willingly without fear.His soul felt ready to burst. 

He shook himself again and followed behind her; opening the door and making sure she was secure. Finally, he made his way to the drivers side and started the car. 

The sun began to set as they drove off.

.....

It was getting darker fast, so they made their way out of the car quickly. 

They walked silently for the first few moments, her watching the sunset in awe and him watching her.

Monsters often had a hard time seeing the appeal of the human race. They were different from monsters in the fact that they WEREN’T different; at least not in the eyes of monsters. They almost all looked the same, with very few looking somewhat appealing.

But as Papyrus watched the little human smiling as she watched the sun go down; he saw it. The way the light hit her eyes making them dance and when she turned her head, they seemed to change color. Her hair, though frizzy from her long day, seemed to glisten and become more vibrant. And her smile; it beamed with a happiness he would do anything to keep alive.

“Papyrus?”

The tall monster shook himself out of his thoughts.

“HMM?”

She had stopped and was looking up at him, a hopeful expression on her face.

“Since we’re here...would you mind if we visited my favorite spot?”

Papyrus raised his eye ridge. The human wanted to show him her favorite spot?

“I DO NOT SEE WHY NOT, THOUGH I DON’T THINK WE HAVE VERY MUCH TIME TIL THE PARK CLOSES.”

The girl nodded and turned in the direction of their destination.

“It’s this way.”

......

After a few minutes of walking they stood at the base of a magnificent tree. From its branches hung strings with what looked like envelopes attached to them. The girl smiled exuberantly.

“This is my favorite place to come visit each time I’m here. It’s so breathtaking and beautiful.”

Papyrus viewed the tree for a few moments. It was significantly taller and wider than any of the other trees in the park they had seen thus far. It’s branches where so heavy and thick they bent all the way to the ground on all sides. It’s roots were thick as well, sticking up in great clumps on the ground. Each one was adorned with the letters on strings.

“...WHAT IS THIS PLACE?”

The small human turned her excited smile towards him.

“It’s called the Wishing Tree! People write down a wish and hang it from the tree!”

She clasped her hands under her chin in excitement.

“Almost every country has a tradition similar to this; no one really knows why, but it’s almost always a tree. Some believe it’s because early man worshipped nature and would leave offerings by trees in hopes the spirits would continue to keep their land prosperous.”

Papyrus watched her while she continued to talk. When he had first begun his venture to make her his, he had been unable to give an exact reason why he wanted her so badly. But as she excitedly continued to talk to him about trees and nature, now he was certain he knew.

She made him feel calm and for the first time in his life, normal.

His entire life revolved around suspicion. One was always on edge in his line of work. Watching his back so to speak. He could not afford to be calm. But ever since she appeared in his life, a sense of peace seemed to enter into him each time she was around. Though in the beginning she had been afraid of him, she had still treated him respectfully.And once she had gotten to know him a little bit more, she didn’t treat him like a big scary monster. She had begun to treat him like...a friend. Though this was not the complete end result he was looking for, he knew it was another step along the way.

He continued to watch her as she gushed over the tree. How he wished he could hold her hand in this moment; pull her close, maybe even pick her up.He felt the hunger from earlier resurface again. If only she knew how much he wanted her~

He clenched his hands into fists. He couldn’t reveal himself now. Not when he had just begun to gain her trust. Soon though....

It was at that moment that he realized the girl had gone silent. He refocused on her face only to find her gaze had turned a bit sad. 

“The wishes aren’t the only reason I come here though...”

She began to rub one of her arms as if trying to keep herself calm.

“As a child, whenever life got too overwhelming,I always daydreamed of running away and living under this very tree.”

Papyrus watched her silently, noticing the tears beginning to brim in her eyes. She held herself fully now, arms wrapped around each other.

“I did once. Right after my parent’s divorce. I ran here after dark and jumped the fence. I remember crying my eyes out until I finally passed out under it. The park rangers found me in the morning and called the police to take me back home...”

The girl continued to stare silently as if reliving those memories. Then she turned to face him shyly wiping her eyes.

“I’m sorry...I know you probably didn’t want to know that...It’s just something that pops up every time I visit here.”

Papyrus was quiet as he watched her struggle to hold back her tears. 

“....IT IS QUITE ALRIGHT HUMAN. I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT WAS A VERY UPSETTING TIME IN YOUR LIFE. THERE IS NO NEED FOR AN APOLOGY. I CANNOT OFFER MUCH COMFORT, BUT BEING THAT IT IS TIME FOR US TO LEAVE...”

He held out his arm to her, hoping she would be willing to accept his company. The young lady looked up at him with a grateful smile.

“Thank you Papyrus.”

Gingerly, the girl linked her arm with his, resting her other hand on his forearm. 

Papyrus could feel his soul ready to burst from pure delight. He had made progress! And he hoped with all his soul it would continue this way. 

Behind them, the lamps began to light up the dark.

.....

After their second outing, Papyrus could no longer bear to be away from his little human. 

He tried to make up reasons to come see her whenever he could; purposefully hiding some of her things in his car so he could return them to her or trying to catch her on her lunch breaks, insisting he had important news only to “forget” when they got their food. 

One night in particular, he thought he might surprise her after work with another walk in the park, with the excuse that his brothers had sent him to do an extra “check in”. But all his plans went out the window when he saw her walk out of her work.

She was crying, her face flushed red from exertion. 

It took him two strides to meet her. She startled a bit-having not expected him to be there. 

“HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

His eye ridges curved downward in a look of concern. 

The girl looked up at him trying to calm herself. 

“Y-yes....it’s just been a very hard day...and I’m exhausted.”

She sniffled and a fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks.

“...I AM SORRY YOUR DAY AT WORK WAS NOT GOOD HUMAN. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP?”

The girl wiped her eyes and looked up at him again.

“...could you give me a ride home?”

She fidgeted as she asked this, her voice unsure.

“My family had to borrow my car because theirs broke down so I was going to walk home. If you can’t, I can still do that.”

Papyrus could hear the weariness in her voice, the edge of sadness still present as if she might start crying again.

“YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK HUMAN, I CAN GIVE YOU A RIDE IF THAT IS WHAT YOU NEED.”

The girl looked up at him, new tears brimming in her eyes.

“Thank you Papyrus. Thank you so much.”

Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, cracking near the end as the new tears fell.

Papyrus said nothing but gently extended his arm for her to hold onto. She entwined her arm with his and they made their way to his car. 

As they walked, she gently rested her head on his arm. His urge to pick her up and carry her was strong, but he restrained himself and enjoyed this new feeling of her trust.

.....

The little human’s tears continued to ebb and flow as they made the journey to her home. The events of the day seemed to play continuously in her mind, the look of stress never leaving her face.

The skeleton monster was gripping the steering wheel watching her. 

Who would DARE to make her cry like this? He had made it up in his mind that whoever or whatever had caused her this grief, would severely pay!

When they finally pulled into the driveway of her home, the girl continued to sit there staring off into space. Her crying had ceased momentarily, but Papyrus could still see the wetness in her eyes. He hadn’t noticed it until now, but she was shaking. In that moment he was unsure of what he should do. 

“...HUMAN?”

The girl did not respond, but slowly her small hand reached out and touched his.

“Papyrus....will you stay with me?”

The young skeleton felt a jolt of electricity go down his spine. His little human was asking him to stay- she wanted him to stay with her!!

But beyond his excitement, the other part of his mind was concerned. What had scared her so that she felt the need for his presence? Could it have been someone at work? Had they touched her? Or threatened her? 

Papyrus could feel his anger rising at these thoughts, but he did not wish to ruin this moment with her. Slowly he enclosed his hand around hers and nodded.

With reluctance, he let go of her momentarily to go help her out of her side of the car. She looked so tired and drained, he wished with all his soul he could carry her. But he knew it was still too soon.

He resumed his hold of her hand as he helped her out of the car and did not let go the rest of the way into the house.

......

The girl didn’t even bother to put her stuff away as they entered the house. Today had been long and horrible and all she wanted to do was melt into the nearest piece of furniture.

But she knew she couldn’t completely melt down in front of him; she had already done so in the car and believed she may have caused him to worry for her well being. She didn’t wish to give him anymore reason to worry, since he had been sweet enough to take her home.

But as soon as they had pulled into her driveway, the knot of fear from the night before began to take hold of her again. Before she could stop herself, she had reached out to the nearest thing that made her feel safe: his hand. And from the moment she had touched it, she didn’t want to let go; and he hadn’t let go since.

She held his hand tightly now, enjoying the sense of safety it brought to her mind.

Though she was embarrassed to say it out loud, having Papyrus there in her house felt right. It felt...safe. And after the events of today and the previous night, she wanted nothing more than to feel that way.

She gently pulled him towards the living room, being careful to not knock his already bent head into the doorway. Finally they settled down on the couch together. His hand did not falter in its grasp around hers.

As she looked at their hands together, all at once the emotions of the day, last night- even the past few weeks from that fateful day Papyrus had showed up in her life, flooded into her mind. She began to shake and sob as the tears fell again. The only thing that seemed to anchor her was his ever present hand.

Why was all of this happening to her? She had lived a normal life, nothing special. And then...she had seen him; and she hadn’t stopped seeing him since.

Why was he here? 

Why, after all she had seen and probably upset in his life, was he always so nice to her?

Was he using her? Was he trying to get close to her so he could find a reason to get rid of her? Or...did he truly care?

And why-despite the fact that she knew he was a killer by trade, did she want him to hold her right now?

All these thoughts swam in her mind, exhausting her. She just wanted to feel ok again, why couldn’t she feel ok?!

Suddenly, she felt his arm rest around her waist and pull her close. As soon as her head made contact with his chest, her sobbing began to dissipate. 

She felt his other hand come to rest on her head and ever so gently begin to stroke her hair. She gave a shaky sigh. 

“I-I’m sorry.”

Her voice came out hoarse and barely above a whisper. 

“...You Do Not Need To Be Sorry For Crying Human. I Just Wish You Would Tell Me What Is Wrong.”

His voice was quieter than usual- softer and more calming. He was holding her so gently and his hand in her hair felt so comforting. 

“...I think someone i-is following me.”

His hand in her hair stopped.

“ I heard someone prowling around my house last night; and when I had to go to work this morning, I felt like I was being watched the whole way.”

She felt his arm tighten around her.

“...Is That All?”

She shook her head.

“Today was a horrible day at work too. They wanted to dock my pay because I was late, even thought I told them I was going to be a few minutes late because I had to walk. One of our patrons got upset with me today as well, for something I could not control and yelled at me while my manager stood by and just watched. They also made me stay another hour, even though I had requested to be sent home early today so I could meet a repair man for my A/C. I ended up having to cancel.”

She rubbed a few stray tears from her eyes.She was beginning to feel extremely sleepy. The hand in her hair continued its stroking, adding more to her exhaustion.

“... I Am Sorry To Hear That Human.”

Her eyes were heavy now and barely able to stay open. She yawned and bent her head deeper into his chest. He was warm for someone with no skin.

“Th-Thanks for...staying...Pa...pyrus.”

Finally, sleep overtook her.

......

Papyrus continued silently to stroke her hair as she slept. 

It had been too much for him, watching her cry like that. Instinct had overtaken him and before he could restrain himself, he had pulled her to him, holding her tight. Further proof, that he was acting instinctively showed itself when he had begun to touch her hair.

It was light in his hands as he gently stroked it, watching her begin to melt into him.

Then she had told him about someone following her. His feelings of concern and anger had resurfaced and he had had to restrain himself from completely crushing her in his grasp as it tightened protectively around her.

Someone was following his human. Someone of unknown intentions had come so very close to possibly hurting her last night and he hadn’t been there. He wouldn’t have been there in time.

As he stewed over this thought the girl had continued to tell him about her day at work and his anger had only grown. They would pay for treating her so disrespectfully!

He calmed himself down enough to continue in his efforts to soothe her. He would deal with both of these concerns promptly, butin that moment, he did not want to let her go. 

With her this close to him, his soul had reached out to connect with hers. While she was caught up in the motion and feeling of his hand in her hair, he focused his efforts on feeling her soul. He could feel its agitation and how it quivered from exhaustion and fear. His soul reached out soothingly to it.

‘Shhhhh. Do not worry, I am here. I will protect you. Sleep....sleep~’

Papyrus watched as the girl’s eyes began to droop. He felt the worry in her soul begin to abate. Right before she fell asleep, she had thanked him again, clutching her hand subconsciously onto his chest.

His soul was full to bursting, with the need to continue to connect with hers; to completely connect. But he knew, it was not the time for that. He withdrew his soul and settled for stroking her hair once more.

As he watched her sleep so peacefully, he knew more than anything that now was the time to start asserting himself. If he was going to keep her safe, then he needed to have her close to him.

But he knew two things prevented him from doing this. Two things he knew that meant a lot to her; her job and her house. Both prevented him from being with her. And so he knew:

They would both have to go.

.....

Papyrus checked his watch as he waited in the parking lot for her to get off work. 

The morning after her breakdown, he had been more than obliging to take her to work and agreed to pick her up in the afternoon.

He smiled as she exited the building and made her way quickly over to him, happy to see him.

Completely unaware of his misdeed.

As the tall skeleton helped the girl into the car, a pair of eyes watched them warily through the blinds of the building.

When the car finally drove off with the two of them in it, the director of the establishment slumped back in her desk chair.

The words of that terrifying skeleton still rang in her head.

‘IF YOU CARE FOR THE CONTINUED WELL-BEING OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT, YOU WILL DO AS I SAY. BY THE END OF THIS WEEK, I WANT HER FIRED. I DON’T CARE HOW YOU DO IT, BUT SHE MUST NOT KNOW THE REASON BEHIND IT. OR ELSE~’

The director massaged the middle of her forehead. How was she supposed to fire one of her best workers in one week? But how could she risk the safety of herself and her business either?

The woman sighed.

What had that poor girl gotten herself into?


End file.
